What can you say about someone who makes fun of a person’s disability? Trump has the answer: he wasn’t mocking him at all. He “merely mimicked what I thought would be a flustered reporter trying to get out of a statement he made long ago.” He continues, “Despite having one of the great all-time great memories, I certainly don’t remember him.”

I can’t dispute whether Trump has one of the great all-time memories. I haven’t met everyone in the world, both now and in the past, against which to compare him. But the reporter says that the two had met repeatedly while the Kovaleski worked for the Post. “Donald and I were on a first name basis.”

So either the reporter is lying about meeting Trump or Trump is lying about meeting the reporter, in which case Trump’s claim to having one of the all-time great memories isn’t true either.

What can you say about someone who thinks historians can’t know the past because they weren’t there? The alleged meetings between Kovaleski and Trump are now part of history. I’ll follow Trump’s advice and not turn to an historian to settle the facts. Instead, I’ll turn to the Internet and watch the video of Trump’s comments about the reporter and see for myself.

All this consternation around Trump might make fun reality TV, but it doesn’t make for sane political discourse. It as though the class clown and bully has told the teacher to shut up and sit down.

None of this would matter so much and we could chalk it up to good entertainment if others in Trump’s own party would call him out on his outrageous, offensive, inaccurate and threatening behavior. The silence on their part is almost as frightening as Trump’s antics.

Edmund Burke, once considered by conservatives to be their wise counsel, said: “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”

If parents don’t stop children who act out, we get children who are bullies; if schools don’t stop bullying, the real lesson children learn is the might makes right; if colleagues don’t oust bullies from positions of power, good people will leave the workplace; if politicians won’t stand up to bullies in their own party, the country itself is threatened.

If good people do nothing to stop bullies, at what point are they responsible for the evil that follows?

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4 thoughts on “How Long Will They Let Trump Go On?”

Thanks FAYD! As well as that gentle and civil comment on a bully who thinks because he is a fake billionaire he can be rude and lack manners especially in the political area. It comes to mind the people who follow and like what he is saying are probably not mainstream or usually a part of the political process. I agree when enough folks who are good sincere and ethical do nothing then we will get what we deserve…? That is what is happening in our political arena I do believe. Folks are consciously, disenfranchising themselves from representation. Why because they don’t know how it works has been my experience…We would have more folks rise up against Trump but we don;t mainly I think because he probably has all the dirt and hidden secrets on them… There is something going on as to why Trump is getting away with his brash and brute talk. What I’m sure will be revealed in the next six to eight months from now. Thanks again for all you do!

Dear Arthur; Excellent piece, I am just puzzled and amazed with the silence of the other presidential candidates. I guess DT message resonates well within the ranks of the Republican party and if that is true it does not bode well for USA. Hope I am wrong, thanks for the write up.

who exactly is the “they” who should stop Trump? 60% of Republicans support him, he is leading in their polls, alongside a guy who thinks the Pyramids were built to store grain for the Biblical Joseph. The other candidates include Rubio, who advocates monitoring Muslims and is opposed to abortion even in the case of rape or incest, and Jeb Bush who has suggested we screen out non-Christians from the refugees. The Republican party as a whole has demonstrated in this election cycle its value system, which is not out of sync with Donald Trump.

I have Republican friends who don’t support Trump. They don’t think he represents their values. It is people like them that need to speak up. You’re right about the most of the rest of the candidates. They are quiet because they benefit from Trump.

Professor Emeritus, Hofstra University, where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in applied ethics.
Leader Emeritus, Ethical Humanist Society of Long Island
Contributor to honeymoons.about.com and Psychology Today.
And eating out with my wife.